Cockroaches, Crowding, and Crying: The Effects of Toxic Stress on Young Children

This class has ended.

Date: Friday, April 25, 2014

Course #: W741

Time: 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Cost:$150

Credit Available: 0.5 CEUs; 5 SWCEUs; Approved by the Illinois Early Intervention Training Program for PARTIAL CREDIT: 1.0 hour in Atypical Development and 2.0 hours in Working with Families

Description:

Young children are developmentally affected by a variety of environmental risk factors, including poverty, abuse, neglect, and unstable housing conditions, among other tragic circumstances. Nearly 40% of children in Illinois ages birth to five live at or below the 85% Federal Poverty Level. Children who experience ongoing toxic stress in their early years and do not receive developmental support are at risk for academic failure and other negative outcomes. Participants will learn to identify the effects of toxic stress on young children, and will be encouraged to collaborate with one another to share strategies and resources which support their work with vulnerable populations.

Instructors:

Corr has served families and children with special needs in many different capacities, including as an early childhood educator, an early intervention provider and as a therapeutic recreation leader. Catherine's current research interests include identifying effective strategies used to recruit, enroll and sustain the participation of vulnerable families in quality early learning programs. She is specifically interested in how efficiently and effectively young children with special needs are served by early childhood and social welfare programs. Catherine currently serves as a graduate research assistant for the Department of Special Education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Catherine also serves as the Illinois Voices for Children, Kids Count Policy intern.

Danner served as an early childhood inclusion teacher and administrator in New York City for more than ten years, working with young children with and without disabilities. After completing graduate degrees in School Leadership and Early Childhood Special Education, she decided to pursue her doctorate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Natalie's current research interests include blended early childhood teacher preparation and preschool teachers' attitudes and practices of inclusion. She currently serves as a graduate research assistant for the Illinois Early Childhood Asset Map (IECAM) and graduate intern for the National Center for Montessori Education in the Public Sector.